A tiring couple of days!

Yesterday (Weds) started off pretty normally, it was a bit drizzly outside and the snow had gone so I stuck on some leggings and a jumper and headed to work. I was Timon in Park 2, I haven't played him before and I didn't like the costume at all! It feels like you are wearing a nappy, and the vision is quite bad, the gloves and fingers are huge so signing is really hard, and the feet are humongous so it is really hard to walk. I had a nightmare getting my trainers into the coquilles (fake shoes) because the Velcro kept sticking before I'd pushed the trainer through enough, and when I finally did get them in I had to try and get them out again because I couldn't get them on as they were too tight. I was getting really stressed about it and was not excited about playing Timon!

I waited for my ACC and we were in the Crush's Coaster breakroom, which is tiny and put me in more of a bad mood, and it had also started to rain a LOT. My ACC didn't speak a word of English, and there were three English people and one French person in my group. My friend Nina was Scrooge McDuck, a girl from Maidstone was King Louie, and the French girl was Gideon. As we didn't know when we were going on set, all three of us English girls went to sleep. We were fast asleep when we were woken up for our first set! It was still raining but we went out anyway. Once I was out there I still had fun, because I could act quite cool as Timon and I just strutted around moving my head from side to side. I could hear the rain coming down on my head, it felt like I was in a little hut or something.

When we got back to the breakroom, I snuggled up as best as I could (Timon's tail really gets in the way) and went to sleep again. So did the other two English girls. I have no idea how long I was asleep for, but when I woke up and looked out of the window, there was pretty much a blizzard outside, which was totally unexpected! I didn't think it would settle because of the heavy rain we had just been having, but the ground was already white. Because of the snow our next set was 101ed and I carried on sleeping. For our last set, we just walked from Crush to Toon Studio without stopping so it was probably a one minute set, if that. We were going to be in the Toon Studio breakroom after lunch so we left our heads in there and got in the traffic back to EPC.

Nina and I headed to Imaginations for lunch, where I had my usual mountain of carb + veg (cous cous and green beans this time), and the snow was still coming down really fast. We got back to EPC and got into our costumes for the afternoon and waited for our ACC. Over the tannoy it was announced that the choo choo (Allstar Express) had been 101ed for the rest of the day so there was a big cheer. We carried on sitting in our costumes for about half an hour, until somebody came up to us and said that we may as well just get changed. As I was getting changed, there was an announcement that all Cast Members had to go to Studio A for a meeting. Nick Rogers, the big boss, basically told us that we could all leave. The only people that had to stay were the people on Cafe Mickey and Cowboy Cookout Shifts, as these are indoors and the guests pay a load of money to have characters come out whilst they eat. The rest of us were allowed to clock out early, but we will still get paid for the whole day. I felt a bit bad for the guests because they wouldn't get a parade or any characters for the rest of the day, but it really wasn't safe. Apparently they never cancel the parade so it was quite a big deal. In the rush to work out how to get home, I have since realised that I left my Timon costume in the changing room. Also, loads of us had to leave our heads in the breakrooms (mine is in Toon Studio), so we've lost our chinstraps too. EPC normally get a bit arsey about that as you are supposed to exchange your kit, but hopefully they'll understand when I ask for a new one tomorrow that it was out of my control!

There wasn't any transport running at all, so it transpired that we would have to walk all the way back to Pleiades, about 4km, in foot deep snow. I definitely wasn't dressed for it but I had no option but to grin and bear it. About 20 of us headed through the park, which was just completely white, to begin the walk. It was hard work, but the walking warmed me up so I didn't feel too bad. My toes were completely numb though. We stopped when we got to Val d'Europe and some of them got a Subway (I didn't!). When we carried on our journey there were only four of us left, and it was dark, but luckily one of us was Joe so we had a guy with us. I think I eventually got home 2 hours after I left work! It was fun but not something I'd be keen to do every day!

I had a warm shower, got straight into my fleecy onsie (courtesy of Ellie), and had a cup of tea when I got home. Katie and Lauren came over and we watched Toy Story 3 (again - I have no other films), did some sit ups, and had a nice chat. They went at 11ish because Katie had work at 7am the next day.

Today (Thurs), I had a day off, and naturally woke up at around 10am. It was really sunny outside but the snow was still there, so I texted my friend Nina as we had planned to go to the park because she still hadn't been on any rides at all since we've been here. We got ready and went to get the bus, but found out from somebody that they weren't running! We had just under 20 minutes to get the number 50 bus from Val d, and then there wasn't another one for 3 hours, so we power walked and jogged over the ice to Val d and made it just in time! It was quite a good but unexpected workout! The park was still incredibly icy, and we slipped about a lot. We went to the studios first, where we went on the Tower of Terror, Rock 'n' Roller Coaster and Crush's Coaster. We then got a baguette from Imaginations en route to Park 1. The plan was to start in Frontierland and go around the park clockwise, but we had a bad start when Thunder Mountain was closed. We could see people on it shovelling off the snow, so it didn't look like it was going to open any time soon. We went on Phantom Manor instead, which is really cool. I was terrified of it when I was younger! We then headed to Adventureland, but the Indiana Jones ride was also shut because of the snow so we went on Pirates of the Caribbean. From there we headed to Fantasyland, but by this point our feet were soaking wet from the slush so instead of queuing for Peter Pan's Flight (which I really want to go on soon) or Small World, we got a Nutella crepe and walked straight through to Discoveryland. We went on Star Tours, which is ridiculously dated and needs changing, but the queue line themeing is quite elaborate so I guess they aren't too keen to spend the money getting rid of it. It's a simulator ride which sort of chucks you about, it is kind of fun but there is probably something better which could go in its place! When we came out Darth Vader and Chewbacca were there chasing each other around a pillar. The guys who play Chewbacca are 6ft8 so that is the only character they can play!

We headed to Space Mountain, which was shut for the rest of the day apparently so we were pretty pissed off about that as it is indoors. Instead we went on Buzz Lightyear's Lazer Blast, I got a score of 15,500 which is Level 3 out of about 9, I'm really bad at it! It's a really cool ride though.

We headed out through Main Street, but DOUD was about to start, so we decided to stand right by the gates where it ends and watch it. I saw quite a few people I know which was cool, and Nina hadn't seen the parade before so I told her she needed to watch it for research. She really liked it! It seemed kind of depleted, there were only three Green Army Men, and there wasn't a Piglet, or any bungee people on the Pinnochio float. I think it is because of the cold. Some people in EPC moan about the cold SO much, but I really think they should just put on a few extra pairs of tights and a couple of bodies under their costumes and get on with it. They are getting paid for it, and the guests pay a lot to come to Disneyland, so it would be nice if the parades ran properly all year round. There should be showstops in DOUD, but there aren't any at the moment because of the cold. There are also showstops in Fanti, but even they don't always happen. Despite this, Christmas is still the most expensive time of year for the guests to come! The parade is still really good, and the floats, characters and music do most of the work, but it would still be nice to make sure it went out at its best every day.

After we had watched DOUD, we really couldn't feel our feet, so we decided to go to Val d and buy wellies, as they are definitely a necessity. The trains were running again so we got a train and headed to the shops. The cheapest pair we could find were €40! Both of us decided against it, but I don't know what I'm going to wear tomorrow because my Uggs are really not practical at all. We bought a few bits in Auchan and headed home. I don't want to pay €5 to wash my clothes in the laundrette here, so I bought some really cheap washing powder for about €1.70 in Auchan, and washed my stuff in the sink. The washing powder is pretty much the equivalent of Tesco Value, so it probably hasn't done anything, but everything is drying on the end of my bed now and I will see what it's like in the morning!

The family and Ed are coming tomorrow - I'm so excited! I'm working 12-8pm so I am going to shower and pack some stuff in the morning, so when I get home from work I just need to freshen up and wait for them to come and get me at about 9pm. Dad has upgraded us from Davy Crockett Ranch to Hotel New York, so I'm really excited for Christmassy family times!

I'll update after weekend as I'm not bringing my laptop with me the the hotel.

A bientot!

xxx